NY Comic-Con Cosplay Report

Another NY Comic-Con has come and went. I love the geekery news of course, but I am really there for the fashion show that is NYCC cosplay.

For the first year since I had begun attending comic-con in 2010, Harley Quinn was NOT the most popular female character (but a close second). Wonder Woman took first place this year, helped by the popularity of the movie and upcoming Justice League release.

While the majority of the costumes for Wonder Woman were inspired by the movie, my favorite version has to be the puffy dinosaur dancing around as the Amazonian superheroine.

I really enjoyed the diversity of cosplayers this year. The media and marketing "experts" love to pigeonhole who they think the fans are and what their demographic is.

There are, of course, the cosplay celebrity models with professional deals and mega-followings.
However, more grassroots, appreciation was shown for great costume executions by people of all shapes, gender expressions, and ethnicities.

I would say the most significant trend in cosplay is gender fluidity. It was so common to see male and female versions of any of your favorite characters that you only appreciated the creativity. Fans weren't doing drag. Instead, they adapted the essence of the character and made it their own. Take a look at these great looks. This woman styled traditional modest fashion into a great Joker cosplay. Strawberry Shortcake brought joy to fans in the form of a gentle giant with a full red beard and the scent of strawberries.

Hollywood's lack of diversity in casting blockbuster films seems even more out of touch when you see the NY Comic-Con floor. You see cosplayers of all ethnicities and sizes rocking the top superhero looks while being cheered on by other fans. You know, the same fans that buy the merchandise and movie tickets?

The diversity in comic books and the creators who exhibit at NYCC also do not represent what gets picked by Hollywood to be made into movies. Even so, it doesn't stop the fans from flocking to their booths. Again entertainment industry, take note.

So does NY Comic-Con tell us something about the population shift as a whole? Do cosplay trends show more about where society is headed more than the fashion industry does? Can Strawberry Shortcake save the World? Stay tuned.

photos by Mariana Leung

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Cosplay Trends of New York Comic-Con

  Thanks to the popularity of cosplay, New York Comic-Con has the most fun street style of any event in NYC.  I also attended Toronto's Fan Expo in August for another dose of costumed fun.  Like fashion week, I observed seasonal trends that indicate the popularity of different pop culture brands year to year.  Like fashion week, there also seems to be a hierarchy of cosplay street style stars.  There are "celebrity" cosplayers (like Yaya Han who has calendars and a reality show) down to the grown adults who bought a supermarket mask and drew on their sweatshirt with a Sharpie marker.

For women, the most popular character by far was Harley Quinn. This Batman villainess did not even originate from a comic-book but was a sidekick in the 1990’s cartoon series.  She gained a huge following as a result and is now part of the comic book canon, even making cameos in live-action series like Arrow and Birds of Prey.  The original cartoon look and the edgier video game outfits are represented all over the convention floor.  Other hot characters were X-men’s Storm, Maleficient and other Batman characters like Catwoman and Poison Ivy. 

Another big trend this year? Ladies were dressing like femme versions of traditionally male characters.  I saw female Jokers, Penguin, X-men’s Magneto, Beetlejuice, Thor and many others.  Am I surprised? No. Comics, video games and Hollywood movies often treat female characters as window dressing, so women redefining iconic heroes or villains are due.

For men, the brand with the biggest rise in popularity over the years has to be Doctor Who.  In Toronto, it was the most popular character by far.  In addition to men, both children AND women love dressing as this quirky Brit.  Star Wars fans who used to dominate were noticeably less visible for me, but I didn't attend every day.

For the macho guys, fully-armored video game combatants are the acceptable "bro" costume.  Classic heroes like Batman and related villains will always be a staple.  

Goths and Lolitas were the hit alternative fashion genre when I first attended at Comic-con five years ago.  The move to Steampunk has increasingly hit the mainstream for both and women.  The ones that get attention are fans that co-opt a famous character and give them a Steampunk makeover like Iron Man and Boba Fett.  This year, though, I have seen not one, but two fans dressed as Steampunk Wonder Woman. 

I always find it fascinating when a seemingly obscure and older character has a disproportionate amount of popularity.  I have seen multiple, highly detailed “Rufio” cosplayers from 1991’s “Hook” show up in the last two years. The comeback is surprisingly considering the movie is over 20 years old and often mocked.  Dante Basco, the actor himself was originally mortified of his character’s look.   My guess is that character was one of the few cool Asian male characters in pop culture that hit fan’s childhood at the right time.

UNLIKE fashion week, those dressing up in cosplay do so for the sheer love for their character.  The great ones put a craftsmanship and ingenuity into their costume for no return other than possible validation of other fans. If you catch them in the wild, they are gracious about posing for you, and often throw themselves into character to give you a fun shot.  I love seeing fans who embrace their body type and find a costume that suits it. I found a surprisingly chic “Fiona” from Shrek and the universally flattering look of “Zatanna” who dons fishnets and curve-hugging top hat and tails.  Contrary to the reports in male-dominated websites, it’s not just the “hot” girls who receive appreciation.  People of all shapes earn the admiration of their peers if they rock a fantastic cosplay look.  If you have it, flaunt it!

photos by Mariana Leung

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How to Rock Cosplay at New York Comic-Con

After the runways NYC, Milan, Paris, comes the big promenade of New York Comic-Con.  Way over on the West Side of Manhattan, fans of not just comic books, the big "fashion" show had nothing to do with trends.  Cosplay, the art of dressing up in costume in tribute to your favorite pop culture character has become a huge movement.  

Once considered a bunch of super-geeks, cosplay has become an art form in its own right.  SYFY Network's "Heroes of Cosplay" starring competitive costume makers and professional cosplay celebrity Yaya Han have elevated the hobby into a lifestyle that prizes originality and craftsmanship.  Many of the best examples take a well known character and put their own spin on it, like a Steampunk Iron Man, gender reversed versions of comic book heroes and villains, mash-ups of time periods and fashion styles.  

The most popular character by far among women was Batman's Harley Quinn.  At one point, I ended up in a corner and four completely different versions of this character had randomly surrounded me.  One chose a fetish route, one chose a cute cartoonish one.  There was a punk version with tattoos, a child version, a sexy corseted one, etc. 

I saw some beautiful makeup jobs (see the Two-Face rendition above) and costumes with mechanized parts.  

However, with popularity, inevitably comes the mass commercialization racing to capitalize.  Almost every attractive female character with a well crafted costume seems to travel with an entourage (often a grateful male submissive type) who eagerly handed out her card and made sure you got her name right.  Big corporations that had nothing to do with the entertainment, comic or video game world had big booths there, but hired model brand ambassadors in costume to draw the male geeks in.  

With Halloween on its way, there is no shortage of costume inspiration for the holiday.  What comic book character do YOU most relate to?

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